


Blind to you

by Kaydences248



Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Genre: Angst, Angst and Feels, Angst and Romance, Angst with a Happy Ending, Developing Relationship, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, First Love, Friends to Lovers, Hateno Village, Long-Distance Friendship, Long-Distance Relationship, Mutual Pining, Past Relationship(s), Pianist Reader, Sad with a Happy Ending, Slow Build, Slow Burn, Unresolved Romantic Tension, im so bad at tagging, these hands were born to write angst, we all make mistakes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-11
Updated: 2021-02-11
Packaged: 2021-03-17 14:08:58
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,579
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29351739
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kaydences248/pseuds/Kaydences248
Summary: One and a half years ago, Link left you at Hateno. "We can't be together. And even if you think you've fallen for me, it's not real. This is as far as we go." Back then, he didn't tell you that he had remembered his destiny, but neither had you bothered to ask why.As you recited the piano ballad you had written for Link, you were asking what you should (or could) have done all those one and a half years ago. Meanwhile, Link asks himself if saying goodbye is really the best option. In one final meeting at the piano bar, what will your answer be to your dying relationship? Did he even have the courage to meet you?
Relationships: Link & Zelda (Legend of Zelda) & Reader, Link (Legend of Zelda) & Reader
Comments: 1
Kudos: 1





	Blind to you

_Dirty blonde hair… Deep, powerful, cyan eyes… A kind smile punctured by three dimples; two on either cheek and one a little below his lower lip… And a quiet voice that spoke so softly the meaning of every word uttered fell hard on you... Anything really, it could have been as simple as a:_

_“Thank you for that performance tonight, I loved it. You played beautifully.”_

_“Would you like a drink, you’ve been playing non-stop for the past hour?”_

_“It’s late. If need be, I could walk you home. I’ll wait by the backdoor for you.”_

_“Lately, it’s been cold. Please take care that you don’t catch a chill.”_

“Would He be here tonight?” You asked yourself. Maybe yes, maybe no. He didn’t come every night, but every night that he came to the Great Ton Pu Inn it renewed you, gave you hope that you could wait for a million more. You sat before your dresser and applied a tinge of rouge on your lips. As always, you spent the last half an hour getting your mascara right. You knew that you weren’t plain, but you’d give anything you had - time, effort, money, anything- into putting together the best look just for him. A soft blush of pink eye shadow to kiss the end of your eyeliner and you were done. 

“Miss, ten minutes to call time.” The usher reminded you. _Ten minutes to half-past eight._

You looked in the mirror and prayed for strength. You told yourself you looked radiant, that you looked powerful today… even if your stomach was rebelling otherwise. You could feel the nervous slosh of tonight’s dinner swirling in the depths of your pit. You envisioned an hourglass, with the sand spilling into air at the other side; the entire figure casting a dull shadow over a blank screen. 

And so, that was how you felt every night. The sorrowful waves of time lapped painfully at your wounds. These starved pangs of regret were slow eaters, although sometimes they would reside. But they would faithfully tide back onto the bank under the moon’s rise, to remind you what could have been if maybe…If maybe, you had closed the five centimetres there two years ago. When you were still happy, adventuring with Him around Hyrule. There was a time even when you were sure He would have called You His. Maybe

either of you might have known that at the time? He was the Hero, destined to face a great evil. You were just the side character. You two were more concerned with surviving monster hoards and finding safe shelter before the next Blood Moon struck. You learnt to read him underneath those ready lips, which always smiled rehearsed responses. You saw the slightest ripple of fear in those unfaltering blue eyes whenever someone was going to get hurt and 

_Five minutes till call time._ You stood up and unwrinkled your favourite dress. You flexed your fingers experimentally and danced them across a silent keyboard constructed out of air. The notes ran madly through your mind in flashes and you flipped through some of the harder scores to make sure you would not make a mistake later on. It was coming to a full year now, that you had landed this job; finally giving you the opportunity to put your talents to good use. But it didn’t hurt to check the routine. 

_Twenty seconds till call time._ “Miss, please.” The usher leads you out of the backdoor. At half-past eight, the night is young but most of the patrons are already done with their dinners. Instead, they have begun to nurse their early pints of alcohol. As your feet were searching their way toward the piano, your eyes were wildly darting around in the crowd. They pushed and shoved rudely, desperately tracing only one person, and they knew where to look.

_In the corner of the bar nearest the door. Unruly blonde hair braided loosely at the back. Blue eyes. Where are you today, Link?_ Your gaze cried out over the routine chatter of the bar. _No response._ It just wasn’t today, you guessed. He’s busy, your mind came up with a convenient excuse. Perhaps, He would drop by later on. 

“Good evening everyone. I hope everyone’s doing okay in the middle of the winter season. I know how noisy you guys love to get and all, but today’s music is on the more calming side. Sometimes in life, we need to take time to wind down too.” Your eyes returned to face in the crowd instead of wandering in them. Your voice was crisp and confident, a complete stranger to even yourself. So much time had passed that you didn’t even notice the change that had transpired in yourself. You had become so natural. So independent of…

_Let’s start._ All the talk in the bar died down as the voices of all retreated back into their throats. Silence parted its way into the air, and your fingers fluttered to life. Your first song of the night was a bittersweet ballad. And so, the instrument started to sing its lonely course. Its lovely tones cast a languid magic over the room, and suddenly even time had slowed to listen to your love story. 

_It began on a summer night in the Faron Woods. You were just a good-natured traveller who ended up running into a clumsy boy. At that time you had only known better, but he looked like a newborn fawn who had just woken up in a savage landscape of monsters. He didn’t even bother with his own laundry back then. But he was strong, and he saved you from a silver bokoblin that night. After that day, you’d decided to be travel companions. He’d take you the see the wildest ends of Hyrule, and you’d be the only company he’d have known for the next one and a half years._

_Back then, there was something electric about the way eye contact was made. The gentle brushes of skin contact lingering a little too long to be casual. You ended up braiding his hair into French braids when you realized how pretty the light made his golden locks look. “What’s ‘French’?” He would ask innocently. You’d laugh, “It’s from a book I read. It writes about an imaginary world called France.” “Was it a good book?” He would ask with genuine interest. “No, but at least there were no monsters in that world.” You would smile back. He would laugh again, but sadder. It was as if he was starting to recall something from the foggy bank of his memories… something more sinister than an innocuous children’s book._

_Maybe that’s also when it evolved. The light touches became more fervent skin contact. Dinners would be spent at campfires with your fingers interlaced. On your lips you tasted more than just the campfire stew - there would be some remnants of him too. Sometimes, when nights in the open got too cold, you soon found out that there was no warmth like shared body heat. Even the conversations morphed from polite inquiries about each other’s lives into playful banter. Every moment was so new and fast that you didn’t even realize the obvious answer to it all until it all ended._

_Link’s headaches eventually got worse and worse. Perhaps the worst of it all was after you had finally made it to Kakiriko village together. You weren’t allowed into the Elder’s house, but Link had changed by the time his fifteen-minute audience was up. There was tension in his shoulders as he walked, and his eyes were haunted. He kept silent, although you could see a million demons hurting him through the window of his beautiful blue eyes. You never probed, which was your worst mistake, but neither did he lash out at you. You just felt that it wasn’t your place to. He continued to treat you gently, but the small moments you shared were gone. You almost always awoke to a cold empty space beside you. You would reach out to feel the warm fabric of his clothing, only to notice that he was already long ahead of you. He would already be making breakfast, having already donned all his weaponry._

_Rarely are relationships lost overnight; rather, they are lost from a tried and perfected process of mutual mistakes. Things were getting slippery. This had kept up over the next three weeks, but you weren’t exactly sure when he slipped out of your grasp. On the next stop at Hateno, he cruelly told you that you had to go separate ways. At the corner of a now nameless season, you were left alone. The questions and answers that should have been asked and given were just carried away by the arid wind, as a heavy silence hung over you both. The standing distance between him and you had been five centimetres apart back then, but you did nothing. The adventure was over. Without another word, he’d left. You never saw him again until he turned up at the bar two weeks after Ganon had been sealed away half a year back. It was when you heard the villagers talking about a Hero with blond hair and blue eyes that you understood what happened._

“And now, for my fourth song. It is a piece I wrote by myself. I wrote this for someone else, but they’re not here anymore.” Once again, you raised your arms to play. But this time you let yourself get lost in the music. You closed your eyes so that you could see Link more clearly basking in your sea of happier memories. 

_The first night you saw Link back at Hateno, your tears almost threatened to break out of your eyes. Your emotions hit you like a carriage wreck, leaving your heart broken and wretched. You had barely managed to hold it together when he left, and his return only dissolved the fragile glue that force-fitted its broken fragments out of place. Should you have slapped him or tackled him in a fierce hug or been thankful that he was safe? When it came to it, you did neither of the above. “Hi.” You trained your eyes on your heels, which had suddenly become very interesting. Link had come backstage to see you right after your performance that night._

_“Hi,” he almost whispered. Then he greeted your name softly. For him it felt alien; he had forgotten how naturally it used to roll off his tongue. “Thank you for that performance tonight, I loved it. You played beautifully.”_

_Like you, he too did not have much of an idea of what to say. He could barely bear to meet your eyes, well aware of the hurt he had brought you. He wanted to make sure you were doing well, and he wanted to give you proper closure, a proper goodbye. He did not deserve your friendship or companionship._

_But Goddesses that night you were beautiful. He had never forgotten and how he hated to be reminded. The sight of you left him in the middle of the most gorgeous scenery with no exit; he was so lost as to how to treasure you better. Was leaving the best option? But he had to do what he had to do. It was over, after all._

_“Wait. Are you going to...” Are you going to leave me again? You had nearly asked. “Are you going to come back and watch me again?” You offered the suggestion with hopeful eyes. You had hoped to at least be friends again._

_He peered down to look at you with his soft blue eyes. You always thought it fascinating how many different shades of blue his eyes could change under the influence of the light. You had seen icy blue when he was angry; a baby blue when he was being boyish; a deep sapphire when he was lost in thought; a brilliant blue when he was getting excited. Tonight, it was a beautiful warm cerulean. His gaze regarded you tenderly, “Is that what you really want?” He already hated that you were tempting him from his previous resolve. It was so easy._

_“Yes.”_

_“Alright, I’ll definitely be back. I already miss hearing you play.” He gave in._

By now, you had been playing for almost two hours. Your time was up. You stood up and took a bow, letting one hand linger over the cool wood of the piano to transfer your sentiments of gratitude to your instrument. You were partners, and you always respected your piano for that. You waited for the encore shower, and it came. You bowed once more, somewhat satisfied that today was a good performance. Heartfelt things, tended to be. 

And then suddenly, your gaze caught a glimpse of something. A familiar figure was standing to your left, occupying one of the front seats. _When?_ You felt all the knots in your chest melting away, while your stomach began to do little backflips and crazy somersaults. All the clapping in the room was shut out as you held Link’s gaze. He smiled weakly and gestured toward the backstage. You could read his eyes, _At our usual place._ And you were just so happy that he was back; that was all that mattered. Your prayers had been answered tonight. 

Backstage, you slipped out of your evening dress and changed into a simpler white and brown dress, but still left your make-up on. You had let your hair down from the up-do. There was a gentle knock at the door, and you didn’t even bother answering. You sprang up and opened the door to greet your guest.

“I didn’t see you earlier tonight at your usual spot. You’re very late to the show.” You teased.

“I’m sorry… I just got back to town last night. Actually, I wanted to talk with you. Let’s go to your place.”

Your stomach clenched and you felt your heartstrings cut. You knew that this conversation would have had to take place someday, and you were dreading it. Long after you had parted, you had been well aware that the entire affair was only a first love, a puppy love. In your memories the falling and the fallout had been magical, like a fairy tale gone wrong. But that was what it was. Those five months spent were a fantasy, and everything had felt so surreal precisely because it had been your first. If Link had come to tell you to let go, you wouldn’t know what you would have done. He would break the spell he had cast over you, and you as well.

\--

You lived a little farther off from the town in the hills overlooking the village. It was still safe as you had some neighbours; namely, the little scientist Purah and the local farm. The elevation also gave you an unrivaled view of Hateno bay and the mountains. The sunrise was particularly enchanting, with the cantankerous gulls circling the blue shrines lying beneath. Their colour reminded you of Link’s earrings, while the golden Hateno sun reminded you of how easily his skin got tanned in the summers. Your favourite part about the whole place however, were the plentiful apple trees that would blossom into multitudes of pink and white in the spring.

You pushed open the door and sat Link down at your counter. The walk there had been spent in amiable silence, with some light questions and answers. “So you walked in late?” You poked at the conversation. “Yeah, but today I really wanted to see you from the front view, instead of from the back. As always, you played so well. I’m so proud of you.” Link turned back to smile genuinely at you. Your face fell at the praise. You hated that it was purely platonic. “Thank you.” The tension in the air was thick, as if a sharpened dagger was dancing between the two of you at the moment. Not another word was passed between the two of you. It almost felt like a normal night, where he would walk you home after a performance.

You pushed your door open gently and sat Link down at your dining table. Your house was chilly because of the cool night wind blowing from Mount Lanayru. You stoked the fireplace and heated a cauldron of water over it. Dried nightshade flower petals lay nearby in a bottle, ready to be brewed into what was a favourite drink that shared between the both of you. You sank gingerly beside Link into a neighbouring chair, although there was still good distance between the two of you.

“Link, what is it?” You begged at him with vulnerable eyes.

“We need to talk about us.” He began quietly. “You still have feelings for me, while I still have feelings for you.”

You had no idea what to say. _He still had feelings for you, you weren’t dreaming!_ Your heart almost leapt from where you sat out of your torso. It sank down again when you questioned, 

“Then… why do you look so upset? Isn’t that enough?”

“I have feelings for you, but I can’t love.” He paused for a while before addressing your name. It sounded like rusted iron nails scratching against a wall. This wasn’t what you wanted to hear. “We can’t be together. I’ve hurt you so much I don’t think getting together would be a good idea.” 

“Who’re you lying to? Me, or are you trying to convince yourself of something else?” You snapped, quickly beginning to lose your composure.

You had waited all this while for your Hero to return, confident that he would have more courage than this to fix everything or cut it clean. You depended on him for your closure, and you were disappointed. For lack of a better word, it was so half-assed it hurt to know you ever believed so much in him. Self doubts came back to halt your train of thought… _Why were you so dependent on him to carry the relationship?_

One and a half years’ worth of emotional build up had taken its toll on you. You never cried, not even when Link left you, or when he returned. You had not cried in the last five years. But suddenly, your tears fought free from their restraint, and gushed generously into springs down your cheeks. You let out an ungraceful cry that you didn’t even know you had and your hands deftly rushed to muffle yourself. You didn’t like how you were reacting. It was shameful, it lacked dignity.

Strong arms swiftly embraced you as Link shifted his chair until he was close enough. He held you close and said nothing, rubbing slow circles into your back. It felt unnatural, as if he wasn’t used to the action. But then he remembered how he had comforted you through your travels whenever you recounted the near death experiences you had as a traveller. He remembered how you had held _him_ when he had his horrible headaches. The tension in his limbs dissipated, and it came back to him naturally. You breathed in his scent, and allowed your sadness-sorrow-regret-joy-memories-everything to soak into his tunic. He smelled like pine, dew, the sun, flowers and musk.

Still not having the courage to face him, you tangled yourself from his grip until you could tilt your cheek to lie against his chest. “I have loved you for so long. Please, don’t run again.”

“But what we had back then… Wasn’t it just puppy love?” He muttered, voice deeply etched with regret. “I should have never left you. I was so selfish back then.”

You only gripped his beige tunic tighter. This time you looked up fiercely at him. You were dead serious. “And if it was really just puppy’s love, then explain why you still have feelings for me! Maybe it was, Link. But now we’re beyond that. We’re not kids anymore. And I am very fucking certain, that I do love you.” Your voice had cracked somewhere mid-sentence, but your emotions were very real. “Please give us a chance.”

Link pulled you tighter and now you could feel a warm liquid dampening your shoulder. He muttered incoherent noises between apologies and sobs. You had never heard a grown man cry, much less someone as mentally strong as Link. He had revealed himself vulnerable and whole to you at the moment, laying his broken pieces alongside yours. Maybe this was the last and only chance you needed to fix the jigsaw puzzle right once and for all. You both knew this.

It was Link’s turn to meet your eyes. They were so glassy, and you peered right through the window into his soul. “Back at the bar… when you said that I wasn’t here anymore… I felt the full gravity of those words. I fully understand why you said them, and words can never make up for any apology. It was self-centred but you never once left my thoughts. Ever since I knew that I had to set things between us… No. Long before that when I still travelled with you, before I had all my memories back, I already knew.”

“I already knew that you were my proof. I knew I was alive, I had an identity because at least I meant something to you. I wasn’t a nobody Hero for everybody, I was also someone for you. I was wrong because I had assumed that I knew the best for the both of us. I didn’t dare tell you about my real past, or the challenges that were expected of me. I was scared and I ran away, even from you. I’m sorry for all that, and I have prayed every day that I could have turned back the clock. I would never have left you at Hateno.”

“When I returned, I was so guilty. Travelling alone for the next year after gave me so much time to think and reflect about myself. I wanted to give us a clean break when I got back. But I gave in to my own selfish desires and I ended up coming to see you, again and again. I lacked the courage to come clean and to appear truly vulnerable in front of you, of all people. I’m sorry I took so long. I don’t deserve- ”

You took Link’s shaking hand in yours and gave it a reassuring squeeze, still pressed against his chest. Your faces were barely a centimetre away, and your noses were barely touching. “It wasn’t just on you. I should have been less passive about what _I_ wanted. When I found out that you were the Hero, I understood. I can understand why you would have had so much to deal with on your plate. We were only eighteen… no one should ever have to shoulder that burden of avenging four dead friends and a princess. We all make mistakes, and it happens to even the best of us. I should have been there for you, but I didn’t try hard enough.”

“But it’s okay Link. We all make mistakes at various points of our lives… and it’s true that they leave scars. Sometimes we wonder about what could have been, and now I see that… We can choose to continue regretting, or just to have regrets. We can choose to build upon those regrets, instead of allowing them to continue shadowing our lives.”

“Link… I want to start afresh with you. I want to learn to build upon what we had, and learn to love you properly.” By now, your tears had stopped like the flow of time. Still locked into Link’s embrace, you started to notice how Link had looked a little older. His jawline was now more chiselled and you remembered him being a little larger than he originally was. His hair was slightly longer, too, and had been tied back in a half ponytail. Gone were the childish braids.

Link looked at you and returned his answer in the only way his feelings would allow him to at the moment. There was so much that had been left unsaid. He had wanted to tell you how elated and guilty he was when he found out you still loved him. He had wanted to tell you how he would promise you the moon if he could. He wanted to tell you that you were a precious blessing from Hylia, one of the few surviving ones in his cursed twenty years of existence. He leaned in closer and asked in his soft honey voice,

“Is this okay?”

You only hummed and replied by leaning in, finally closing the five centimetres that should have been closed one and a half years earlier. The same spark that had always been there returned, as your lips missed how well they moved against each other. Your hands found themselves in each other’s hair, pushing your significant other deeper into the moment. The sweet warmth spread across your lips and you both kissed with everything that you had, pouring every ounce of emotion into that kiss. You didn’t pull apart until you ran out of air. 

The three words that didn’t need to be said were left hanging in the air. You swallowed them as you leaned in for another. “Again.” You requested. Link let you know the obvious reply by sweeping you up again in another heart stopping kiss. You still couldn’t believe that all this was working out properly for you. You felt fresh tears prickling at the corner of your ears, but they didn’t run this time. Only a single one slid away.

“I’m so glad we cleared everything up.” You mumbled. As you pulled away, you promised, “I’ll work on being more upfront with you from now on.”

“Me too, I swear.” Link agreed. “Thank you for understanding… I don’t deserve your love.”

“Thank you for working up the courage to come back. I love you.” You admitted. After this, the only thing you two could muster was to stare at each other giddily, unable to form even a simple sentence.

Wordlessly, you got up and went to the cauldron. You scooped boiling water up into two mugs and let the dried flowers expel their magic into the tea. As you worked in the background, you heard the sweetest voice call your name softly. You turned.

“I love you.” Link admitted. The tips of his ears were pink and you could see a light dusting of pink colour his cheeks. His eyes were innocent and he was now sitting cross legged on the chair. You couldn’t help but see the same Link all that time ago when he first told you he liked you romantically. It was the same scene, but it was not the same man. You felt your heart melt as a blush of your own came on. You carried the mug of tea and placed in front of him. Snaking your fingers into your own mug, you nestled your nest of hair into the crevice between his shoulder and his neck.

For the first time in a very long while, you felt truly at peace, ready to begin your life all over again. You had each other, and no matter how rough things were going to get, you were sure that everything would work out in the end.

  
  
  
  
  


  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! I actually got the inspiration for this while listening to my list of miserable Aimer songs (she's a Japanese artiste that has a really unique voice and even better songs). Can you guess why it's named "Blind For You"? Haha there're a few reasons (beyond the song itself ofc) but I really left it up to the interpretation of the reader. :) 
> 
> Honestly, I don't know that yet that I'm done with these two. I might return to them or do another unrelated oneshot because I realise how much I love writing oneshots. I literally don't have the patience or fortitude to outline a full story or follow through with it. Unfortunately, all my energy comes in short bursts. I should really follow up with my main story but I have so many unedited drafts of ideas habdiwifbe hnnurghhh. I digress, but have a nice day :3


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